Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Insight & Wisdom

Assalamualaikum w.b.t
Photo of a dark blue sky and stars over Northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
 In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

He has made subject to you the Night and the Day; the sun and the moon; and the stars are in subjection by His Command: verily in this are Signs for men who are wise. (Quran 16:12)

Those who listen to the Word, and follow the best of it:   those are the ones  who Allah has guided, and  those  are the  ones endowed with understanding. (Qur’an, 39:18)

In order to know Allah Who created all living creatures and the universe and to comprehend His power, a person should consider everything our Lord has created and try to appreciate the manifestations of His boundless knowledge and will.

Picture of Kilimanjaro Mountain, Africa as viewed from near Loitokitok (photo by Fred Skinner)
Only in this way can he understand that everything he sees was created and must definitely be the product of a power and intelligence.

By acknowledging the intelligence and creative power of Allah in this way he will come closer to Allah and realize that he needs to have faith in Him.

However, for a person to be able to see and understand all these things, he requires an insight which sees with wisdom. Seeing everything around him with wisdom is the best means of referring to Allah and remembering Him at every moment, as Allah tells us in the verse, "an instruction and a reminder for every penitent human being." (Quran 50: 8)

To give sight and as a reminder to every servant who turns frequently (to Allah).
For a person to be able to be cautious, notice every detail and evaluate these things correctly, peace of mind is necessary.

The minds of people living in the community of the ignorant are perpetually filled with worldly concerns. They do not want to see, these people are blinder than the blind and because they do not want to hear they are deafer than the deaf. Allah describes such people in the following Qur'anic verse:

... Many are the Jinns and men we have made for Hell: They have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they hear not. They are like cattle,- nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning).  (Qran 07:179)

They are incapable of seeing the divine wisdom in the signs of Allah's creation because as well as the imbalance in their mental state they are not at ease and tranquil in spiritual terms. In the following verse of the Qur'an, Allah describes the inability of disbelievers to see the proofs of the creation which are evident even in a small insect:

Allah disdains not to use the similitude of things, lowest as well as highest. Those who believe know that it is truth from their Lord; but those who reject Faith say: "What means Allah by this similitude?" By it He causes many to stray, and many He leads into the right path; but He causes not to stray, except those who forsake (the path),-  (Quran 02: 26)

Deniers of the faith do not consider the truths of the faith which are before their eyes every day because their intellects are obscured by depression, anxiety and stress.

They cannot understand the need for and the importance of faith in Allah because they cannot, in the true sense, see His supremacy over all the living creatures which He has created.

Even if they seem to understand just a little, this understanding quickly loses its effect because they are not strong enough to put their consciences to work. Allah tells us in the following verse of the Qur'an that even though He confronts them with proofs which point to Him, these have no effect on them:

And how many Signs in the heavens and the earth do they pass by? Yet they turn (their faces) away from them!  (Quran 12:105)


They are not comfortable or tranquil in spiritual terms because of their unhappiness. This prevents them from looking at everything around them with insight and holds them back from faith in Allah. They lose the happiness sincere belief in Allah would bring them and lead miserable lives because of their own lack of intelligence.

Believers always feel happiness because they believe in Him, think about Him and try to earn His approval. In order to approach Allah more closely they think deeply about and investigate everything He has created.

For example, for a believer, looking at the boundless Heavens is a way of appreciating the power and artistry of Allah. Or when he sees a beautiful view, he considers that this beauty has been shown him by Allah and is grateful to Him for it.

For the faithful, regarding everything around them as an opportunity to praise Allah ensures that they gain His approval and experience happiness more fully.
Wallahuaklam.
P/S: Translation sourced from Abdullah Yusuf Ali's Translation of The Holy Quran



Adapted from the book, FAITH: The Way to Happiness ,written by Harun Yahya.
By Diana Rizal (freestyler.driz@googlemail.com)


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